INCLUSION DAILY
EXPRESS

Your quick, once-a-day look at disability rights,
self-determination and the movement toward full community inclusion around
the world.

Thursday, December 11, 2003Year V, Edition 841

This front page features 8 news and information items,
each preceded by a number (#) symbol.Click on the"Below the Fold"
link at the bottom of this page for the rest of today's news.

QUOTES OF THE DAY:"If we are serious about human rights in our
society, we have to get beyond seeing disability as an issue for disabled
people only. In reality, disability is an issue for us all - at the heart of
all our wishes for an inclusive society for everybody."--Leslie Swartz,
disabilities studies professor in Cape Town, South Africa (Third story)

"And this is the little girl they said would never do
anything."--Keith Gustafson, talking about Nancy Henn, who was named
this year's "Outstanding Individual With Autism" by the National Autism Society
(Fourth story)

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# CRIME / HEALTH CARE

People With Disabilities At Higher Risk
of HIV/AIDSDecember 11, 2003

WASHINGTON, DC--People with
disabilities are more vulnerable to HIV infection than the general population
according to a global survey for the World Bank and Yale University.

The researchers found that there are common themes around the world
related to HIV/AIDS among people with disabilities, a brief story in
allAfrica.com reported last week.

For example, people with disabilities are up to three times more likely
to become victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse or rape because they are more
often viewed as easy targets by potential perpetrators. Such victims not only
are less able to physically defend themselves, but they also find it more
difficult to seek justice through the courts which often are not accessible to
them.

Also, a common myth that sex with a virgin can cure AIDS, along with the
assumption that most women with disabilities do not have sex and therefore are
virgins, has led to systematic rapes by people who are desperate to get rid of
their infection.

"We need to be putting a disability lens on all the projects at the
World Bank and external to the Bank," said Judith Heumann, World Bank Advisor
on Disability and Development.

WASHINGTON, DC--On December 2, the
U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-0 that a Tucson, Arizona missile plant could
legitimately refuse to rehire a former employee who claimed to have overcome
his drug addiction.

But the high court sent the case of Raytheon Co. v. Hernandez back to
the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to determine if the company discriminated
against the worker because of his disability.

The appeals court will have to decide whether Raytheon violated the
Americans with Disabilities Act when it refused to rehire Joel Hernandez, a
25-year employee who quit his job in 1991 to avoid being fired when a drug test
showed he had used cocaine. More than two years later, after completing a drug
treatment program, Hernandez was turned down when he applied for a different
job. The plant, then known as Hughes Missile Systems, cited an unwritten policy
of refusing to rehire all employees fired for breaking company rules, including
drug abuse.

The ADA protects former addicts from discrimination if they no longer
use drugs and have been treated for their addiction.

The Supreme Court said that Hernandez failed to show that the company
specifically refused to rehire him because of his disability. The appeals court
will now have to re-examine the facts to determine whether Hernandez'
disability was the real reason the company did not rehire him.

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA--On December 3, the
Independent Online published an article by Leslie Swartz, a disabilities
studies professor at the University of Stellenbosch.

"The biggest myth about disability is that it is something that an
individual 'suffers from' and that it is unchanging," Swartz wrote.

"The reality is that the experience of disability is the product of an
interaction between the person and the environment. Two people with exactly the
same impairment (for example, a mobility impairment leading to wheelchair use)
and work-related potential will lead completely different lives because of the
situations they live in."

"One may be an active member of society, contributing to the economy.
The other may have been excluded from mainstream education because people feel
that disabled children may 'upset' others, may not be able to get to work
because public transport cannot accommodate a wheelchair, and may in any event
not be skilled enough to find appropriate fulfilling work."

"Disability, centrally, is not about 'them'. It is about all of us, and
not only about the fact that we may all move into and out of experiences of
disability through illness, accidents, and changes in the environment."

"More importantly, disability is about the extent to which we are
prepared to make our society accessible to everyone, an environment in which
everyone reaches full potential. Taking on disability is part of taking on
building a democratic society which does not, apartheid-style, confine people
to certain roles based on physical characteristics."

AKRON, OHIO--The following three
paragraphs are excerpts from a Knight-Ridder article featured in the December 5
Fort Wayne News-Sentinel:

For eight years, except holidays and a smattering of vacation days,
Nancy Henn, who is severely autistic, carefully has tended the paperwork that
fuels the inner workings of Summit County. The 30-year-old woman lifts sacks of
mail, transports them to cartons, loads a car and hand delivers her packages to
various county departments, among other jobs.

She makes a union wage, carries medical insurance, pays taxes, and pays
for her job coach with her earnings. Her most recent tests show she has an IQ
of 20, yet she pulls her weight at work and is expected to produce as much as
her non-disabled colleagues.

In July, the National Autism Society named Nancy as the year's
"Outstanding Individual With Autism."

TAMPA, FLORIDA--As Terri
Schiavo turned 40 last week, the controversy continued over her husband's wish
to see her die of starvation, and her family's wish -- backed by Governor Jeb
Bush -- for her to stay alive.

Court-appointed guardian Jay Wolfson told the governor on December 2
that Terri cannot recover from her disability, but that more tests need to be
done before he would recommend removing the feeding tube that provides her food
and water.

In his 38-page report, Wolfson, a University of South Florida professor
and lawyer, concluded that all existing medical evidence shows Terri's cerebral
cortex is "practically liquid," she cannot swallow on her own and "cannot
consciously interact with her environment."

Wolfson recommended a new round of tests to see if Terri can swallow. If
the tests show she can do so, she should be allowed to stay alive, Wolfson
wrote.

Terri's parents and their supporters found hope in Wolfson's report.

"Clearly Dr. Wolfson has come to the same conclusion that we have had
for some time," explained Pat Anderson, an attorney for Bob and Mary Schindler.
"Further medical testing is required for Terri before any further decisions can
be made."

Disability rights advocates have been watching Terri's legal battle for
several years. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, and several doctors claim that she
has been in a "persistent vegetative state" since she collapsed from an
apparent heart attack in February 1990 and was without oxygen for several
minutes. The courts have supported Mr. Schiavo's claims that Terri cannot
recover from her injury, that she does not feel pain, and that she would not
have wanted to live "by artificial means".

Terri's parents believe that she is alert and responsive and that she
could improve with rehabilitative therapies which Mr. Schiavo has denied her
for at least the past 10 years. They claim that Terri's husband wants her to
die so that he can marry another woman with whom he has fathered two children,
and so he can benefit from what's left of an insurance settlement that now pays
for her treatment. They want him removed as Terri's guardian and have pushed
for an investigation into their allegations that he abused, neglected and
financially exploited her.

The Schindlers and advocates have defended Terri's right to live, noting
that allowing her to die by starvation would reinforce the message that the
lives of people with certain disabilities are not worth living. With their
urging and that of right-to-life advocates, the governor championed "Terri's
Law". The measure allowed the legislature to give Bush permission to order
Terri's feeding tube reinserted on October 21, six days after it had been
removed under a court order. The law also called for appointing the independent
guardian to review her situation and provide the governor with
recommendations.

In related news, a poll of Florida voters found that nearly two-thirds
disagree with the new law and the stance Bush has taken in Terri's case.

Women with disabilities appear to be at the same risk for emotional,
physical, and sexual abuse as women without physical disabilities. However,
they are more likely to experience a longer duration of abuse than women who do
not have disabilities. The following resources offer information and advice on
this difficult issue.

WASHINGTON, DC--At a two-day
conference on Health Disparities and Mental Retardation, U.S. Attorney General
David Satcher said that doctors and dentists often provide poorer treatment for
people who have mental retardation or refuse to provide any treatment at
all.

"People with mental retardation are stigmatized," said Dr. Satcher.
"Sometimes they are stigmatized by the professionals charged to serve them.
This stigma is real, it is painful, it is pervasive and it is unfair."

Satcher announced that in the next few weeks he would be issuing a
Surgeon General's report that would outline the agenda for people with mental
retardation to receive the same type of health services that everybody else
receives, including dental care and eyeglasses.